About Me

I'm a big reader. A couple of years ago, I read Harold Bloom's The Western Canon and decided to start trying to read the books listed in the back. The problem then became that a lot of them draw heavily on the bible, which I had not read. I decided the translation I wanted was the King James, as it has had the most influence on the English language. So I bought The King James Study Bible, which bills itself as a conservative, but broad, study method.
Har! It turns out this particular bible was originally published by Jerrry Falwell's Liberty University. It also turns out that NO annotated KJV takes a secular or even ecumenical perspective, they all come at it from the evangelical protestant viewpoint. If I wanted to understand this sucker, I would have to do it myself. Hence a blog, to clarify my thoughts on what I'm reading.
Any time I talk about Jerry, I am referring to Jerry Falwell and his band of biblical editors.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Job, Chapters 28 & 29: The first boy scout

Chapter 28

Job blathers incongruously about mining for 11 verses before getting to his point: we know where to dig for shiny stones, but not for wisdom. Nor can it be purchased, for the price of wisdom is above rubies (v. 18). Chalk that up under 'sayings I didn't know were biblical.' Only god is wise.

Chapter 29

Job waxes nostalgic for his old life, when he could go out at night in safety and his kids were around and he had plenty of cream and olive oil. Notice where in that list the kids are. He was a public figure and everybody loved him because he helped widows and orphans and did good deeds for the blind and the lame and gave hospitality to strangers, and, and, and. Does anybody get the feeling god might be punishing Job for his smugness?